First Meetings
by darylscarol
Summary: Based in season one. It's about how the group all met each other before moving to the quarry. Also Carol and Daryl's first meeting and interaction. Will be mostly based around Carol and Daryl :)
1. Chapter 1

**First fanfic so please be nice :)))**

 **So this fanfic is based all the way back in season 1. It's when Shane, Lori and Carl join up with the others "Dale, Andrea, Carol, Dixon brothers, etc). Not sure how long I'll decide to make it, we shall just have to wait and see. I'm a huge Caryl shipper so this is leading up to Carol and Daryl's first meeting.**

 **So yeah, here goes...**

Shane and Lori watched from the highway as the flames, flooded Atlanta, engulfing the skyscrapers as it went. The distant explosions shook their bodies, leaving Lori trembling and breaking up a sweat.

"We should get back to Carl," said Shane turning to Lori, placing his hands on her shoulders and guiding her back towards the road and the car where they'd left Carol to watch over Carl.

Carl ran to Lori when she returned and Lori scooped him up into a hug, feeling a massive wave of relief. Carol smiled at the gesture and Lori thanked her for watching him. Carol was a pretty woman, probably in her early 40s, she had short grey hair and pale blue eyes, she had a dainty build but was of average height.

"You. Let's go." Lori jumped as Carol's husband Ed called to Carol from the drivers seat. Carol, in a panic, rushed with her daughter, Sophia, to the car and climbed in.

"Hey, um Ed right?"

"Yeah," Ed responded in a harsh grunt.

"We're heading to higher ground, maybe to the quarry a few miles from here, it has water and we think it'll be safer on higher ground as we'll have better views of the area." Shane explained to Ed, who was looking emotionless. His eyes drifted to Carol who was sat in the **passChapter 1 =enger** seat with her head down and hands in her lap, playing with the hem of her top. "We'd love it if you and your family joined us, it seems Carl and Sophia have made friends with each other-" Shane was cut of by the harsh words from Ed's mouth.

"They ain't friends, they've known each other for 10 minutes, hardly call them friends. Now leave us alone," said Ed, starting up the engine of the car. Ed clearly wanted nothing to do with Shane or Lori or Carl. Shane had met people like Ed before. Controlling and unwilling. He feared that Carol and Sophia may not be safe and he wanted to take it upon him to make sure that they were.

"Please, come with us, safety in numbers in this world," Shane continued, ignoring Ed's attempts to block him out.

"Fine. But we keep to our own and you keep to yours." Shane nodded his head and turned back towards Lori and Carl. Carl was sat on the bonnet of the car slinging pebbles with his sling shot. One of the pebbles hit and RV and chipped the windscreen.

"Better watch where you fling those things kids, could take someone's eye out," came a voice from next to the RV. It was an older man, possibly mid fifties, wearing a white top underneath a yellow Hawaiian themed short sleeved shirt. He had a funny sun hat on, a white beard and big black eyebrows and was carrying a rifle over his shoulder.

"Dale, leave the kid alone, he's just having a little fun," said a young blonde woman who was followed by another blonde girl.

"Sorry, it won't happen again," said Lori pulling Carl's arm and making him get off the bonnet of the car. "I'm Lori, this is my son Carl and our friend Shane."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Dale, this is Andrea, Amy and that's Jacqui," he said pointed to the woman sat in the RV.

"We're headed to higher ground, figured the dead may not follow us that far if you and your group wanted to join us?" Shane asked Dale who looked him up and down and was trying to figure out whether or not he could trust Shane.

"I think it sounds like a good idea, better than standing around here on the highway," explained Andrea looking from Shane to Dale to Lori.

"Let's go then, better get moving," said Shane turning towards the car and getting in and starting it up.

Shane's car, followed by Ed's and the RV, made their way along the highway, weaving in an out of parked traffic, they drove along the road for about a mile or so until something brought the cars to a stop. It was a figure, walking along the side of a road, holding a rucksack on his shoulder.

"Stay in the car," Shane said to Lori as he climbed out and removed his gun from his belt. He held up his gun to the figure who was had stopped and started turning around.

"Wait wait wait don't shoot!" Said the man flinging his hands high up in the air.

"Damn could've killed you, I thought you were one of them," said Shane lowering his gun.

"Look man, I've been on my own for days, can I join you, I won't be a burden I promise." Shane was unsure and paused for a moment.

"Yeah, get in."

"Thanks so much man, I owe you! Name's T-Dog."

"Shane." 

**So that's chapter 1. Please let me know what you think. I'll upload some more later on :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**So here was have chapter 2! Hope you like it and hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Please leave some feedback or if there's anything you'd like to see!**

 **Enjoy! :)))**

The newly formed and unlikely group drove for what seemed like hours. They drove towards the quarry and when they hit the top they came to a clearing. A perfect place to set up camp for the night. Shane got out the car and did a sweep of the area checking for any unwanted visitors. It was silent, he half expected to hear the sound of a plane flying over head or the buzz of the highway in the distance. Lori started setting up the tent that she had grabbed from her and Rick's house, while Carl unpacked the clothes he had stuffed into his backpack. T-Dog and Andrea went off in the search of some wood to build a fire.

Carol held her daughter in her arms wrapping her in her warmth and a blanket, the night was colder than usual, then she shivered. It wasn't the cold that sent a shiver down her spine but the presence of Ed breathing down her neck. Ed was a big man, tall and carried a little extra weight. When she had met him at the age of 19, he being 24 at the time, she thought he was the one for her. He was charming back then, always looking out for her and treating her like a queen. Over the years, he grew cold and distant and Carol began to notice a change in him, he became more possessive and angry. He started to become abusive but she never left him, out of fear that he'd find her. The birth of her daughter was what made life worth living when she was near to giving up. Sophia was her sunshine, her whole world.

"Go to bed now child," said Ed harshly, causing Carol to jump and regain her trail of thoughts. Sophia nodded and hugged her mum. Carol planted a kiss on her head and squeezed her tight before letting her go. Sophia climbed into the tent and snuggled up in her sleeping bag. "I don't want you talking to any of the people in this camp without me present, do you understand?" Carol nodded and looked down avoiding his gaze. She was afraid of him, afraid of what he would do to her if she didn't do as he asked. "Now, let's go," said Ed tugging Carol behind a tree and pushing her into it face first so she was facing the tree with her hands braced against it. She knew that struggling and fighting him off would just make him angry so she just let him do what he wanted until he was satisfied. She had never been with another man, only Ed and she longed to know what it was like to be touched and held by someone who truly loved her. She would probably never find out as she could be dead tomorrow, by walker or by Ed.

Lori sat with the rest of the group around the fire they had built, absorbing as much of the warmth as they could. She glanced over at Carl who was fast asleep in the tent, all snuggled in his sleeping bag. She took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, it was clear with the odd cloud here and there. She thought of Rick. She missed him. She wished they had not had that argument the few days before he was shot and slipped into the coma, she regretted not telling him how much she loved him. Andrea broke the silence "I'm off to bed, think you all should too, it'll be a big day tomorrow, we need to gather some more supplies and decide what we're going to do next." Jacqui nodded and headed towards the RV followed closely by Dale. Andrea and Amy retreated to their tent and T-Dog to his.

"We're going to be ok, Y'know that?" Shane's voice was gentle as he placed his hand over Lori's. She looked up at him and smiled before he turned and left. Lori watched as Carol scurried past towards to car. Carol was carrying bottles of water to take back to the tent. Her eyes were watery and red. Lori noticed bruises and the red marks that were on her arms.

"Carol are you alright?" Lori asked with deep concern. Carol just nodded and walked off remembering what Ed had said to her about talking to others.

The sun rose and a ray of light shone on Shane's face causing him to stir and wake. He stretched and put on his black top and his army trousers. It was a peaceful morning, dew was still resting on the plants that surrounded the camp and the roofs of the tents. He did a sweep of the area, checking for walkers. Clear. T-Dog was up and tending to the fire. "Morning," said Shane nodding a friendly gesture towards him. T-Dog smiled a threw a bottle of water in his direction, Shane catching it in one swift movement.

"Hey Shane," he turned to see Andrea jogging towards him. Her waving blonde hair taken back into a ponytail which swayed as she ran. "We passed a few houses on the way up here. Thought we could go scope them out and maybe gather some supplies?"

"I'm in," said T-Dog standing up, and looking strong and important, causing a small laugh to escapee from Andrea's mouth.

The trio gathered some water and a rucksack each and headed down the way they had come, all had hands on knives and had guns at the ready. The world had become a place where they lived in fear, not knowing whether they'd make it through the day and praying that the ones they cared about were safe. Trying to keep noise to a minimum, the group moved through the woods, making sure they were fully aware of where each other were and their surroundings. The three came to an abrupt halt as they heard a branch snap a few feet away from them. Shane drew his gun and held it in the braced position.

"Eyyy, look what we have 'ere little brother," said a man, stepping out from behind a tree. He was a tall man, had a strong build, a stubbled chin and shaved grey hair. He wore black trousers and a black leather waist jacket over the top of a loose sleeveless shirt. "Seems we got ourselves a cop, a hooker and a RnB rapper," his voice echoed sarcasm.

"Who are you?" Shane still holding his gun up, ready to fire at any moment.

"Now now, officer, I'm playin'. Name's Merle. Merle Dixon," said Merle, placing his hands in the air and dropping his gun and knife to the floor. "Got yourselves a camp? You look pretty settled and well, clean. Ain't that right sweet cheeks?" He directed that comment at Andrea who shied away from his blue eyed gaze. T-Dog was sweating, he wasn't sure whether it was the heat or how intimidating Merle was. It was easy to tell that Merle had a lot of authority and would be dangerous not given his own way. "Ey little brother, come meet ma new mates," Merle shouted to a figure standing behind them. Merle's brother was holding a crossbow, which was set and ready to fire at any given moment. "This 'ere is my brother Daryl. We'd like to join your camp," said Merle as a grin creeped across his face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ok so here is chapter 3, I hope you're enjoying it! Please leave a review or drop me a message if there's anything you'd like me to include more or less of!**

The smile on Merle's face lingered for a minute before he started to lower his hands. "How do we know we can trust you?" Shane said making sure he started Merle straight in the eye.

"Daryl here has dinner," said Merle pointing to Daryl who had flung about 9 squirrels over his shoulder.

"Ain't nobody's squirrels, 'cept mine!" Daryl exclaimed, clearly offended that Merle was bargaining off his squirrels.

"We ain't looking for trouble, been out here since the start, just need somewhere to settle," Shane eyed Merle up and down and turned to look at Daryl who had lowered his crossbow but was shifting his weight from one leg to the other, clearly agitated.

"Shane, safely in numbers.." Andrea trailed off. She wasn't wrong. It was better do be in a larger group, if walkers were to stumble into their camp, they'd need all the help they could get. Shane remained silent, not sure what to think of the Dixon brothers.

"Shane, is it? I understand the predicament is a lot to consider-" Merle was interrupted by Daryl.

"Would you shut up? Man ain't gonna want anything to do with us rednecks and your blabbery mouth!" Daryl paced and was getting more annoyed with his brother. Daryl knew what Merle was like, he had a way with words, often appearing charming but deep down was cold and harsh character. He didn't doubt that he'd fight by his side until the end and Daryl loved his brother, he was the only person he had in this world, before and after the turn. He'd never had many friends and certainly never had a serious relationship with anyone, only fooled around a bit. Growing up was hard for Daryl, his father was abusive and Daryl wore the scars to prove it. His mother had died when he was young which had shaken him up a bit. Daryl had a tough exterior, but underneath his steel walls, he was a shy and gentle man who isn't good with words or expressing his feelings but was a man of honour and loyalty.

"Now now little brother, no need to jump to conclusions," said Merle, shooting a strong glare in his direction. "We would be an asset to your camp, we can hunt and track and we're good fighters too, you know, so we can protect the ladies from those scary monsters," Merle explained while winking at Andrea who just raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not impressed by his attempts. Shane nodded reluctantly, he kept telling himself that the more man power had, the easier it would be to protect Lori and Carl and keep them safe. Shane had always had a soft spot for Lori, when Rick first met Lori, Shane was instantly jealous. He had never had a long term girlfriend, only one night stands and relationships lasting no longer than a few weeks.

"You can come back with us, but if you try anything, anything at all, I will shoot you down," Shane was right up in Merle's face, threatening him the stereotypical tough men do.

"Wouldn't harm a soul," Merle grinned. The group walked onwards, Daryl shooting squirrels as he went, tying them to his back pack. They reached a small clearing in the woods with a small house situated in the middle. Andrea and Shane went into the house in search of supplies. T-Dog was trying to start up the White pickup truck that was parked outside, the more vehicles the group had, the easier it would be for them to all escape if needs be.

The door of the house creaked as Shane pushed it open with the end of his gun. He held it up, ready to fire if required, Andrea stayed close behind him, following his every step, trying to avoid stepping on any squeaky floorboards. She pulled out a torch from her backpack and switched it on, looking at the paintings that hung on the wall. The house was silent and dark. The hallway had dark red wallpaper with a dark brown varnished wooden floor. There were no windows in the hallways and all the doors were shut so not a ray of light was seeping in. Searching for the kitchen, they opened each door and checked each room, shining the torch in every corner. After searching every other room, they finally found the kitchen and began packing everything they could carry in rucksacks, bottles of water, tins of beans and cartoons of juice. Andrea twisted the door knob of the pantry door, and realising it was locked, drew up her torch and broke the door knob off with the head of her torch. She pulled the door open, aiming her torch at the shelves which contained dozens of canned goods and food that'll keep for a long time. The smell of rotting engulfed her scent and she scrunched up her nose in disgust. A hand reached out and grabbed her forearm tightly before the rest of the body came hurtling towards her. A female walker had her by her arm and was coming closer and closer to her pushing Andrea against the wall. "Shane!" Andrea screamed, sweat beginning to drip down her face and she used all her strength to push the walker of her. The walker lunged for her neck before stopping dead and falling to the floor in a heap. A wooden arrow, sat neatly in the temple of the walker's head. "Thank you," said Andrea nodding in Daryl's direction. He gave a small nod of acknowledgement in return before retrieving his arrow from the walker's skull and exiting the pantry.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Daryl put it down," Andrea pointed to the walker who was lying in a heap. Shane placed his hand on Andrea's shoulder.

"Good, glad you're alright. Good find though. Let's get this all packed up into the car."

"Look at you little brother, helping the damsel in distress," Merle teased as Daryl cleaned his arrow and placed it back in the crossbow, "always doing the right thing, you're soft."

"I ain't soft!" Daryl shoved Merle, pushing him backwards.

"You've always been the good one." Merle laughed half heartedly before walking off.

Daryl found a small outbuilding, inside, there were a series of garden tools,pick axes, shovels and a machete. There was a large object covered up by a dusty bed sheet, Daryl pulled it off the reveal a Triumph Bonneville motorcycle. Daryl pushed it of the outbuilding before starting it up and climbing aboard. The rest of the group placed all the gathered supplies in the back of the truck.

"We best be getting back, it'll be dark soon," said Shane climbing in the driver's seat, T-Dog in the passenger's seat and Andrea and Merle sitting in the back. Followed closely behind by Daryl on his bike. The group drove back to camp. Upon reaching the camp, Andrea was reunited with Amy and embraced her into a hug and sighed with relief. Lori greeted Shane and gave him a hug.

"Shane, there's someone who we'd like you to meet-" Lori paused drifting her gaze to the Dixon brothers, "who are they?"

"Merle and Daryl Dixon. They're with us now." Shane said with a hint of nervousness. "What were you saying? Someone I need to meet?"

"Yeah, a young man, obviously had the same idea as us, searching for higher ground, he stumbled across our camp, asked if he could stay. I said it wasn't up to me and that he should talk to you when you got back." Shane nodded and headed towards the RV. Inside the RV, sat Dale and Jacqui with an Asian man.

"Hi, I'm Glenn."

 **Sorry if there's any typos! :') Hope you like it! More to follow soon :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry I've been slacking a bit but here it is! NEXT CHAPTER! *party poppers***

 **So Carol and Daryl finally meet in this chapter and it's hella awkward! Hope you enjoy! Don't forget to drop a review! I'm open to any suggestions that you would like to see featured or which characters you'd like to see more of :)**

"Im Glenn. Glenn Rhee," said the Asian boy giving his hand to Shane, waiting for him to shake it. Shane looked him up and down, he appeared relatively harmless, just a young man.

"How'd you find us?" asked Shane, still suspicious of him. The group had grown large very quickly. More people meant that they were safer from walkers but there was more mouths to feed, more people to protect.

"I came from Atlanta. I figured it was safer to be as far away from the city as possible. My car broke down so I started on foot, then I came across a few walkers and started running. I got taken off the route I was planning on taking," explained Glenn, feeling slightly put off by Shane's authority.

"Did the walkers follow you here?!" Shane said suddenly panicked by the idea that walkers could invade their camp.

"No I lost them miles off. They didn't follow me here." Glenn said removing his cap from his head. His hair damp and his skin was glistening with sweat. It was humid that night and he had been running, for ages.

"Why don't you get some rest Glenn, we'll talk in the morning." said Lori, as if she was mothering him.

"Sure. Ok. Thank you. If that's alright? " said Glenn directing his question at Shane.

"You can stay but people are going to have to start pulling their weight around here, we've got a lot of mouths to feed." Shane was exhausted but accepted that Glenn would be staying.

"I can help out on runs, I can get in and out of places quickly, I'm fast," Glenn said smiling at him and Lori before thanking Jacqui for the cup of tea she had handed him.

"Get some sleep everyone, it's been a long day." Shane headed back to the tent followed by Lori.

"Hey," said Lori, catching Shane's arm, "I think it's really great what you're doing here, doing for us. You're giving people hope and making them feel welcome and I wanted to say thank you,"

"I'm just doing what Rick would do," said Shane, instantly regretting mentioning Rick's name as he saw Lori's eyes gaze downwards. He watched as a tear stained her cheek. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No it's fine, I'm just so grateful for you for looking out for me and Carl. You could've left us, but you didn't." Lori said wiping the tears off her cheeks and smiling at him. Shane reached for her and put his arms around her wrapping her into a hug. She needed that comfort, the support of knowing that someone was there for her, protecting her. Lori reached up and kissed him gently. She didn't know what came over her or what sparked her to make such a move. She pulled away from him, wished him a goodnight and headed back to the tent where she and Carl slept. Shane placed his fingers on his lips, he wasn't not sure what just happened but the woman he had admired for years, Rick's wife, had just kissed him. He was happy about it as it's all he wanted to do for years but also he felt sad at the same time, what would Rick think? Would he be upset? Shane brushed some dirt over the campfire to put it out and then went to his own tent and fell asleep quickly.

X

Daryl stirred as the sun started coming up, the rays of light kissing the tips of the trees casting shadows. He squinted his eyes open and stretched, before sitting up and looking around. Merle lay a few metres away, still fast asleep. Grabbing his crossbow and leaping to his feet, Daryl headed towards the lake in the quarry. He clambered carefully down the rocky terrain and made it to the water's edge. Daryl cupped his hands, making a bowl shape and splashed water of his face. The sky had turned a beautiful pink and orange colour, the morning was fresh and dew was still settled on the ground in perfect little droplets. He inhaled sharply, taking in the fresh summer air, thinking about what the day might bring, no doubt Merle being an asshole as usual.

Daryl propped his crossbow up against the nearest boulder and knelt down to untie his shoes. He removed his socks and dipped his toes into the water in front of him. A shiver ran up his spine, the water was cold, very cold but it was all he had. He removed the rest of his clothes and dived into the water, gasping for air at the temperature of the water. He ran his hands through his hair and up his arms, washing away the dirt that had been gathering for days.

X

Carol's eyes fluttered open and she looked up staring at the dew drops on the ceiling of the tent, watching as one rolled down every so often. Ed was snoring loudly and Sophia was still sound asleep as if nothing in the world mattered, she looked happy. Carol smiled to herself and pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead before exiting the tent. The camp was still silent, no one else appeared to have risen yet. "Great," she whispered to herself, finally feeling that she could get some time to herself before everyone else woke up. She grabbed a change of clothes from their luggage and headed towards the quarry lake, hoping to have a dip before everyone woke up.

Carol strolled down the hill, with the lake in sight, it was a beautiful crystal blue colour that contrasted with the pink and orange sky. Carol walked with her head down, examining the scratches on her wrist that Ed had given her. She then collided with a wet and cold figure, knocking her off balance, causing her to drop her clothes and nearly falling over but the figure caught her wrist, steadying her keeping her upright.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she said apologetically, bending down to pick up her things.

"Ain't no bother."

She looked up at the figure who had caught her. He was man of about 40 years of age, roughly the same age as her, with short brown hair, pale blue eyes and the most amazing arms she had ever seen. She admired him before realising that'd she'd been staring at him for longer than what would be the normal amount of time for staring.

"I didn't see you, I was so out of it, I'm so sorry." she said again, hoping for him to say something more. But he just nodded, doing up his belt and. pulling his shirt over his head. "I'm Carol. Carol Peletier."

"Daryl. Dixon." replied Daryl feeling a bit nervy, as he noticed that she was staring at him. Daryl studied her features, she was a pretty woman, with short grey hair and stunning blue eyes. He looked away from her, avoiding her gaze. He wanted to look at her because she was so beautiful, he wanted to look at her for the rest of his life but his train of thought was interrupted.

"I better get cleaned up," said Carol breaking the silence. The awkwardness was building with every second. Carol had a good judge of character, since learning what Ed was really like, she never allowed herself to be fooled by people's characters but Daryl's was different, he was pure, a good man but with a rough exterior, probably emotionally damage much like herself.

"Err yeah, 'kay," Daryl grabbed his crossbow and flung it over his shoulder in one swift motion. He then quickly retreated back up the hill. He regretted not saying more to her, talking to her but he was never very good with woman and it was a flaw that he was yet to overcome.

Carol watched him as a clambered back up the hill. She could feel that her cheeks were blushed and rosy and she had suddenly become aware that her breathing was irregular and her tummy was churning. She tried to convince herself that it was because she was hungry but in realty, she knew it was because she had a little high school style crush on the attractive archer muscle man. She placed her fingers to her mouth, trying to hide her smile. Carol couldn't remember the last time she smiled like that.


End file.
